Behind the Scenes with Every Child a Filmmaker

We're excited to take you behind the scenes of Every Child a Filmmaker, our award-winning filmmaking initiative which is supported by partners including EON Productions, Amazon MGM Studios and Swatch.

What is Every Child a Filmmaker?

Working closely with professional filmmakers, the initiative supports young people across the UK to make their own short films, learning every element of the filmmaking process along the way - from idea generation, storyboarding and scriptwriting, right through to camera operation, sound recording, and editing.

What does it look like?

So far this year we've delivered 17 filmmaking projects with groups of young people based all across the UK, from Belfast to Birkenhead; Sheffield to Somerset. We also have a further nine projects currently underway. 

In total, we have engaged with over 250 young people through in-depth filmmaking workshops, and supported them in telling their own stories through the moving image.

Groups have produced a diverse range of films, both narrative and documentary, exploring a range of themes and topics including mental health, community, inspiration, self-belief, friendship, anti-bullying, women's rights and gentrification, through genres including thrillers, horror, action and comedy.

Behind the scenes with Every Child a Filmmaker

As well as running workshops and producing youth-made short films, we have been busy capturing behind-the-scenes footage and testimonials to document the exciting filmmaking process from the perspective of the young people involved. The footage also highlights additional benefits for the young people taking part in the initiative, which include increased confidence in their creative abilities and skills development, such as team working and communication.

As well as the hugely positive feedback we've received from young people and educators, we're delighted to share that our project delivered to young people at Westgate Hill Primary School in Newcastle, in partnership with Young Women's Film Academy, has won the award for Best Arts & Education Partnership at the North East Culture Awards 2024.

• Watch their winning film, Back to the Jurassic

Below, you can watch some of the young peoples' films and see how they were made in behind-the-scenes videos offering testimony from the projects.

Static, made by students from West Herts College, in Watford

Static, behind-the-scenes film

Anna and the Ninja, made by students from Castle Tower School, in Ballymena

Anna and the Ninja, behind-the-scenes film

What Makes Peckham Peckham?, made by young people from Rainbow Collective, in London

These films will now be featured on our Every Child a Filmmaker page and across our YouTube channel. 

• Check out our full Every Child a Filmmaker playlist on YouTube

Every Child a Filmmaker at the Into Film Festival

During this year's Into Film Festival, we featured ten short films from Every Child a Filmmaker and invited the young filmmakers and their friends and families to experience their films on the big screen for the first time.

We also ran a Time To Inspire competition earlier in 2024, in partnership with Swatch, where young people were asked to create a storyboard that embodied the theme of inspiration.

Forming part of Every Child a Filmmaker, the winning group got to bring their storyboard to life as a short film and had their film shown ahead of every single Into Film Festival screening, meaning their film was seen on the big screen by hundreds-of-thousands of young people and educators across the UK this November.

Look out for even more incredible success stories and brilliant short films from Every Child a Filmmaker in 2025.